A So Cal Girl in the Desert

Last night we went to the drive-in movies! My husband is the only one of us to have been to a drive-in before, and that was when he was a kid. It seems that drive-ins just don't exist much anymore, which is a shame because it was a great time and much less expensive than going to the movie theater. At the Scottsdale 6, we paid $11.00 total for my husband and I, and the kid and dog were free. And that's for a double feature! We didn't stay for the second flick 'cause it was past our bed times. We saw a movie I never thought I'd see, "Herbie: Fully Loaded." It was the only 8-year-old friendly film they were showing besides "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which we saw last weekend. The movie was actually pretty good, but it could have been the novelty of the experience that caught me wearing rose-colored glasses. The snack vendors were complaining about how there were only twelve cars that came in the whole place last night–complaining in a nice way, like they were bummed. They seemed to really enjoy their jobs. I hope this drive-in doesn't shut down like all the rest, 'cause we'll definitely be back.

We'll probably wait to go back until the weather cools a bit. It must have been between 95º and 100º and since we were sitting in my Jeep without the engine running, it was pretty uncomfortable. We were pretty sweaty, plus I had a furry dog in my lap the whole time that added to the heat. About halfway through the movie, the wind really started to pick up. The still, dusty lot became a playground for canwrappersers, empty popcorn tubs, and dust devils. Then we saw lightening behind the screen in the distance. Wow! What a sight. The strikes became more and more frequent and looked closer and closer. The wind blew so hard that we had to zip up the windows to shield ourselves from the dust. We started to get a little nervous, wondering if the storm would move right on top of us. The Jeep was shaking, and the canvas top was vibrating. The lightening was no longer made up of individual strikes. It looked like the sky was full of electricity with no break. Some strikes were so high that they just made the clouds glow, while others seemed to strike the ground. A few raindrops fell. My husband was lucky enough to snap the picture seen here.



Though our first instinct was to flee, we decided to follow the judgmentent of the three other cars on our lot, assuming they were natives to the area. If they go, we'll go, we thought. The kids they had on the roof of their truck moved inside for cover, but they stayed put and watched the whole movie. Things calmed down just before the movie ended in time for us to have a safe, yet gusty, ride home.